21 July 2005 London Bombings - Response and Advice

Response and Advice

Prime Minister Tony Blair, Home Secretary Charles Clarke, and other ministers and key officials from government and the emergency services attended a meeting in COBR. Blair interrupted a meeting with Prime Minister of Australia John Howard to attend a COBR meeting, although he and Howard later gave a joint news conference. (Howard was also in Washington, D.C., at the time of the 11 September 2001 attacks.) Whitehall, the main artery serving the governmental district, was initially sealed off and evacuated, but was reopened at 14:45. It was subsequently closed again around 15:25 following an arrest and a bomb scare, both of which were fairly quickly resolved.

Sir Ian Blair, the Met police chief, described the incident as "serious" but said that there were "fewer injuries", caused by bombs that appeared to be "much smaller than those used on 7 July".

The police advised people to stay where they were and not travel unless absolutely necessary. However, people living within a 300 metre radius of the bomb sites were evacuated, due to worries about chemical agents being used. By about 16:00, however, Sir Ian Blair described the situation as "firmly under control" and urged London "to get ... moving again".

In the United States, the Pentagon raised its security level in response to the attacks. In addition, New York City Police announced that they would begin randomly searching backpacks on the New York City Subway system, though they have said that this move had been under consideration before the events in London.

According to the Evening Standard, stranded commuters and evacuated locals in Shepherd's Bush held an impromptu street party during the evening of 21 July, in the vicinity of the crime scene, which lasted until the early morning. Music was provided by a peace activism group, and several photographs of this appeared in London's local press the following day.